Hurricane Hunters assist with rescue mission in Pacific Ocean

by Master Sgt. Brian Lamar
403rd Wing Public Affairs

8/11/2014 - JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- A 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron crew assisted the U.S. Coast Guard with locating and rescuing three people north of the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean Aug. 10.

The Air Force Reserve unit assigned to the 403rd Wing at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, deployed to Hawaii Aug. 5 to gather weather data on Hurricanes Iselle and Julio.

The Hurricane Hunter WC-130J and its crew were headed back to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam after completing the last Hurricane Julio reconnaissance mission when Maj. Dena Williams, 53rd WRS aircraft commander, was alerted by the U.S. Coast Guard that they needed their assistance.

A 42-foot sailboat had sent a distress mayday signal Sunday. The captain of the boat radioed that his engine had blown, and he was taking on water. To make matters worse, the captain also relayed his location, which was northeast of Hurricane Julio in an area projected to have 40-to-50-foot swells. With the boat's engine gone, and one sail ripped to shreds, the three people on board needed immediate attention.

"The latitude, longitude coordinates at the time of the mayday call placed the sailboat near the northeast side of the eye wall with approximately 55 knots of wind," said Tom Birchard, a senior forecaster and hurricane specialist with the Central Pacific Hurricane Center.

It was in a dangerous place in the core of the wind field, said Birchard.

The Hurricane Hunters, who had just finished collecting data from the eye of Hurricane Julio, turned back toward the storm and began the search.

A stroke of luck had occurred for all parties involved in the rescue mission.

"We had already fueled up the plane for a 10-hour mission, but our second storm fix requirements were cancelled, which meant we had extra fuel to search for the plane," said Williams.

As the Hunters neared the last known location of the endangered sailboat, they dropped to a low altitude to begin a visual search. Initially, they were not able to see the boat due to the weather, but once they got closer, they were able to hear the mayday signal and worked their way toward the disabled craft.

"One of the Navy oceanographers spotted the boat," said Williams. "If he hadn't seen that, we might have gone by."

"It was complicated to find the boat," said Tech. Sgt. Jenna Daniels, the loadmaster for the flight. " Once we got down below the cloud-level, we spotted it pretty quickly."

"I was working with a superstar crew," said Williams. "I had a lot of useful input from the crew, which helped me make quick and sound decisions. All we could do was stay calm with these guys on the radio. Somehow it all came together. Everyone was working together as a team and handled the situation well. It was a hug morale boost for us to find them."

Once the location was confirmed, the mission was turned over to a U.S. Coast Guard C-130.

"We were very lucky to have a Hurricane Hunter WC-130J nearby that bought us some time and offered a great sense of hope to the sailboat to see the aircraft flying above," said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jason Hagen, the command duty officer at the U.S. Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center.